Since its founding in 1974 by Cornell Capa with help from Micha Bar-Am in Willard Straight House, on Fifth Avenue's Museum Mile, ICP has presented over 500 exhibitions, bringing the work of more than 3,000 photographers and other artists to the public in one-person and group exhibitions and provided various classes and workshops for students. ICP was founded as an institution to keep the legacy of "Concerned Photography" alive. After the untimely deaths of his brother Robert Capa and his colleagues Werner Bischof, Chim (David Seymour), and Dan Weiner in the 1950s, Capa saw the need to keep their humanitarian documentary work in the public eye. In 1966 he founded the International Fund for Concerned Photography. By 1974 the Fund needed a home, and the International Center of Photography was created.
In 1985, a satellite facility, ICP Midtown, was created. Plans were also made for the redesign and reconstruction of the Midtown location.
Redesign and reconstruction
In 1999, the headquarters building at 1130 Fifth Avenue was sold. The expanded galleries, at 1133 Avenue of the Americas at 43rd Street, were designed by Gwathmey Siegel & Associates Architects for the display of photography and new media. The reopening of the 17,000-square-foot (1,600 m2) site, previously used as a photo gallery for Kodak, in the fall of 2000 provided in one location the same gallery space as the two previous sites combined and became the headquarters of ICP's public exhibitions programs. The new ICP also provided an expanded store and a café.
The expansion of the School of the International Center of Photography in the fall of 2001 created a Midtown campus diagonally across from the Museum in the Grace Building at 1114 Avenue of the Americas. Designed by the architecture firm Gensler, the new, 27,000-square-foot (2,500 m2) school facility doubled ICP’s teaching space and allowed ICP to expand both its programming and community outreach.
In 2014, ICP’s board approved a plan to buy a building on the Bowery near the New Museum and relocate there. The center’s school, whose lease continues through 2018, will remain where it is under the current plan, but is expected to eventually move downtown to consolidate operations. The midtown museum closed on January 11, 2015 when its longtime lease ended. The new ICP museum opened on June 23, 2016 at 250 Bowery.
Located in Midtown Manhattan, the School at ICP serves more than 5,000 students each year, offering 400 courses in a curriculum that ranges from darkroom classes to certificate and master's degree programs. Other educational programming includes a lecture series, seminars, symposia, workshops hosted by professional photographers, and complementary activities.
Opened in 2001, the School is a 27,000-square-foot (2,500 m2) facility at 1114 Avenue of the Americas, diagonally across the street from the ICP Museum. It is also designed by Gensler.
ICP's educational initiatives are divided into three areas: the School, Public Programs, and Community Programs.
The School offers a year-round selection of continuing education classes; three one-year Certificate programs (General Studies in Photography and Documentary Photography and Photojournalism and New Media Narratives); and the ICP-Bard Program in Advanced Photographic Studies, a two-year graduate program leading to a master of fine arts degree.
Public programs address issues in photography and its relationship to art, culture, and society and promote the interpretation of ICP's exhibitions and collections. The Photographers Lecture Series invites photographers to present their work while sharing ideas and concerns about the medium. Other seminars, symposia, and panel discussions feature artists, critics, scholars, and historians.
Community programs relate to the exhibitions. Programs include interactive tours, family day events, workshops, long-term photography programs in four New York City public schools, summer photography programs in community centers, and a high school internship program designed to promote youth leadership.
The ICP hosts the Infinity Awards, which were inaugurated in 1985 "to bring public attention to outstanding achievements in photography by honoring individuals with distinguished careers in the field and by identifying future luminaries".
1985
Master of Photography: André Kertész
Applied/Fashion/Advertising: Sarah Moon
Art: David Hockney
Photojournalism: Alberto Venzago
Publication: Photo Poche
Young Photographer: Masaaki Miyazawa
1986
Master of Photography: Hiroshi Hamaya
Lifetime Achievement: Edward K. Thompson
Art: Lucas Samaras
Design: Alan Richardson
Photojournalism: Sebastião Salgado
Publication: W. Eugene Smith, Let Truth Be the Prejudice: W. Eugene Smith, His Life and Photographs
Young Photographer: Anthony Suau
1987
Master of Photography: Manuel Álvarez Bravo
Lifetime Achievement: Harold Edgerton
Applied/Fashion/Advertising: Jay Maisel
Art: Robert Rauschenberg
Design: Hans-Georg Pospischil
Photojournalism: Eugene Richards
Publication: Robert Frank, New York to Nova Scotia
Young Photographer: Paul Graham
1988
Master of Photography: Alfred Eisenstaedt
Lifetime Achievement: Edwin H. Land
Applied/Fashion/Advertising: Guy Bourdin
Art: Georges Rousse and Joel-Peter Witkin
Design: Werner Jeker
Photojournalism: Sebastião Salgado
Publication: Richard Misrach, Desert Cantos
Writing: Peter Galassi
Young Photographer: Marc Trivier
1989
Master of Photography: Berenice Abbott
Lifetime Achievement: Alexander Liberman
Applied/Fashion/Advertising: Joyce Tenneson
Art: Arnulf Rainer
Design: Michael Rand
Photojournalism: James Nachtwey
Publication: Josef Koudelka, Exiles
Writing: John Szarkowski
Young Photographer: Pablo Cabado
1990
Master of Photography: Yousuf Karsh
Lifetime Achievement: Gordon Parks
Applied/Fashion/Advertising: Annie Leibovitz
Art: Chuck Close
Photojournalism: Jacques Langevin
Publication: Sarah Greenough and Joel Snyder, On the Art of Fixing a Shadow: One Hundred and Fifty Years of Photography
Writing: Max Kozloff
Young Photographer: Miro Svolik
1991
Master of Photography: Harry Callahan
Lifetime Achievement: Andreas Feininger
Applied/Fashion/Advertising: Herb Ritts
Art: Duane Michals
Design: Gran Fury
Photojournalism: Antonin Kratochvil
Publication: Sylvia Plachy, Sylvia Plachy's Unguided Tour
Writing: Anna Fárová
Young Photographer: Walter Dhladhla
1992
Master of Photography: Lennart Nilsson
Lifetime Achievement: Carl Mydans
Applied/Fashion/Advertising: Oliviero Toscani
Art: Doug and Mike Starn
Design: Gunter Rambow
Photojournalism: Christopher Morris
Publication: Irving Penn, Passage: A Work Record
Writing: Alan Trachtenberg
Young Photographer: Klaus Reisinger
1993
Master of Photography: Richard Avedon
Lifetime Achievement: Stefan Lorant
Applied/Fashion/Advertising: Geof Kern
Art: Anselm Kiefer
Design: David Carson
Photojournalism: James Nachtwey
Publication: Jane Livingston, The New York School: Photographs, 1936-1963
Writing: Arthur C. Danto
Young Photographer: Nick Waplington
1994
Master of Photography: Henri Cartier-Bresson
Lifetime Achievement: Howard Chapnick
Applied/Fashion/Advertising: Bruce Weber
Art: Cindy Sherman
Photojournalism: Hans-Jürgen Burkard
Publication: Sebastião Salgado and Lelia Wanick Salgado, Workers: An Archaeology of the Industrial Age
Writing: Maria Morris Hambourg and Pierre Apraxine
Young Photographer: Fazal Sheikh
1995
Master of Photography: Eve Arnold
Lifetime Achievement: John Szarkowski
Applied/Fashion/Advertising: Josef Astor
Art: Clarissa Sligh
Design: Yolanda Cuomo
Photojournalism: Gilles Peress
Publication: Eugene Richards, Americans We: Photographs and Notes
Writing: Deborah Willis
Young Photographer: Sean Doyle
1996
Master of Photography: Horst P. Horst
Lifetime Achievement: Cornell Capa
Applied/Fashion/Advertising: Wolfgang Volz
Art: Annette Messager
Design: Markus Rasp
Photojournalism: Lise Sarfati
Publication: Gilles Peress, The Silence
Writing: A. D. Coleman
Young Photographer: Eva Leitolf
1997
Master of Photography: Helen Levitt
Lifetime Achievement: Robert Delpire
Applied/Fashion/Advertising: David LaChapelle
Art: Christian Boltanski
Design: Chip Kidd
Photojournalism: Mary Ellen Mark
Publication: Chris Riley and Douglas Niven, The Killing Fields
Writing: Vicki Goldberg
Young Photographer: Lauren Greenfield
1998
Master of Photography: Roy DeCarava
Lifetime Achievement: Naomi Rosenblum and Walter Rosenblum
Applied/Fashion/Advertising: Inez van Lamsweerde and Vinoodh Matadin
Art: Sigmar Polke
Design: J. Abbott Miller
Photojournalism: Steve Hart
Publication: Horst Faas and Tim Page, Requiem: By the Photographers Who Died in Vietnam and Indochina
Writing: Robert Coles
Young Photographer: Michael Ackerman
1999
Master of Photography: Arnold Newman
Lifetime Achievement: Harold Evans
Applied/Fashion/Advertising: Julius Shulman
Art: Hiroshi Sugimoto
Design: Bart Houtman and Guido van Lier
Photojournalism: Alexandra Boulat
Publication: Charles Bowden, Juárez: The Laboratory of Our Future
Writing: John Morris
Young Photographer: Nicolai Fuglsig
Special Presentation: L. Fritz Gruber
2000
Cornell Capa Award: Robert Frank
Lifetime Achievement: Nathan Lyons
Applied/Fashion/Advertising: Hubble Heritage Project
Art: Adam Fuss
Photojournalism: James Nachtwey
Publication: Manfred Heiting, Helmut Newton Work
Writing: Andy Grundberg
Young Photographer: Zach Gold
2001
Cornell Capa Award: Mary Ellen Mark
Lifetime Achievement: Roger Thérond
Applied/Fashion/Advertising: Philip-Lorca diCorcia
Art: Andreas Gursky
Photojournalism: Luc Delahaye
Publication: Jeff L. Rosenheim and Douglas Eklund, Unclassified: A Walker Evans Anthology
Writing: Eugenia Parry
Young Photographer: Elinor Carucci
2002
Cornell Capa Award: here is new york: a democracy of photographs
Lifetime Achievement: Michael E. Hoffman
Applied/Fashion/Advertising: RJ Muna
Art: Shirin Neshat
Photojournalism: Tyler Hicks
Publication: Robert Lebeck and Bodo von Dewitz, Kiosk: A History of Photojournalism
Writing: Ariella Azoulay
Young Photographer: Lynsey Addario
Special Presentation: The New York Times "Portraits of Grief"
2003
Cornell Capa Award: Marc Riboud
Lifetime Achievement: Bernd and Hilla Becher
Applied/Fashion/Advertising: Thái Công
Art: Zarina Bhimji
Photojournalism: Alex Majoli
Publication: Deirdre O'Callaghan, Hide That Can
Writing: Sara Stevenson
Young Photographer: Jonas Bendiksen
2004
Cornell Capa Award: Josef Koudelka
Lifetime Achievement: William Eggleston
Applied/Fashion/Advertising: Alison Jackson
Art: Fiona Tan
Photojournalism: Simon Norfolk
Publication: Doon Arbus and Elisabeth Sussman, Diane Arbus: Revelations
Writing: Susan Sontag
Young Photographer: Tomoko Sawada
2005
Cornell Capa Award: Susan Meiselas
Lifetime Achievement: Bruce Weber
Applied/Fashion/Advertising: Deborah Turbeville
Art: Loretta Lux
Photojournalism: The New Yorker
Publication: Henryk Ross, Łódź Ghetto Album
Writing: Vince Aletti
Young Photographer: Tomás Munita
2006
Cornell Capa Award: Don McCullin
Lifetime Achievement: Lee Friedlander
Applied/Fashion/Advertising: Steven Meisel
Art: Thomas Ruff
Trustee Award: Getty Images
Photojournalism: Yuri Kozyrev
Publication: Mary Panzer and Christian Caujolle, Things As They Are: Photojournalism in Context Since 1955
Writing: Geoff Dyer
Young Photographer: Ahmet Polat
2007
Cornell Capa Award: Milton Rogovin
Lifetime Achievement: William Klein
Art: Tracey Moffatt
Trustee Award: Karl Lagerfeld
Publication: Tendance Floue, Sommes-Nous?
Writing: David Levi Strauss
Young Photographer: Ryan McGinley
2008
Lifetime Achievement: Malick Sidibé
Applied/Fashion/Advertising: Craig McDean
Art: Edward Burtynsky
Trustee Award: Diane Keaton
Photojournalism: Anthony Suau
Publication: Taryn Simon, An American Index of the Hidden and Unfamiliar
Writing: Bill Jay
Young Photographer: Mikhael Subotzky
2009
Cornell Capa Award: Letizia Battaglia
Lifetime Achievement: Annie Leibovitz
Applied/Fashion/Advertising: Tim Walker
Art: Rinko Kawauchi
Trustee Award: Gayle G. Greenhill
Photojournalism: Geert van Kesteren
Publication: Aglaia Konrad, Desert Cities
Writing: Aveek Sen
Young Photographer: Lieko Shiga
2010
Cornell Capa Award: Peter Magubane
Lifetime Achievement: John G. Morris
Applied/Fashion/Advertising: Daniele Tamagni
Art: Lorna Simpson
Trustee Award: Gilbert C. Maurer
Photojournalism: Reza
Publication: Sarah Greenough, Looking In: Robert Frank's "The Americans"
Writing: Luc Sante
Young Photographer: Raphaël Dallaporta
2011
Cornell Capa Award: Ruth Gruber
Lifetime Achievement: Elliott Erwitt
Applied/Fashion/Advertising: Viviane Sassen
Art: Abelardo Morell
Trustee Award: The Durst Family
Photojournalism: Adrees Latif
Publication: Alec Soth
Writing: Gerry Badger
Young Photographer: Peter van Agtmael
2012
Cornell Capa Award: Ai Weiwei
Lifetime Achievement: Daido Moriyama
Applied/Fashion/Advertising: Maurice Scheltens and Liesbeth Abbenes
Art: Stan Douglas
Trustee Award: John "Launny" Steffens
Photojournalism: Benjamin Lowy
Publication: Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía, The Worker Photography Movement [1926–1939]
Writing: David Campany
Young Photographer: Anouk Kruithof
2013
Cornell Capa Lifetime Achievement: David Goldblatt
Applied/Fashion/Advertising: Erik Madigan Heck
Art: Mishka Henner
Trustee Award: Pat Schoenfeld
Photojournalism: David Guttenfelder
Publication: Cristina de Middel, The Afronauts
Young Photographer: Kitra Cahana
Special Presentation: Jeff Bridges
2014
Cornell Capa Lifetime Achievement: Jürgen Schadeberg
Applied/Fashion/Advertising: Steven Klein
Art: James Welling
Photojournalism: Stephanie Sinclair and Jessica Dimmock
Publication: Adam Broomberg and Oliver Chanarin, Holy Bible
Young Photographer: Samuel James
2015
Cornell Capa Lifetime Achievement: Graciela Iturbide
Art: Larry Fink
Trustee Award: The Lean In Collection by Getty Images
Photojournalism: Tomas van Houtryve
Publication: LaToya Ruby Frazier, The Notion of Family
New Media: Question Bridge: Black Males
Young Photographer: Evgenia Arbugaeva
Special Presentation: Mario Testino
2016
Lifetime Achievement: David Bailey
Art: Walid Raad
Trustee Award: Artur Walther, The Walther Collection
Documentary and Photojournalism: Zanele Muholi
Artist's Book: Matthew Connors, Fire in Cairo
Critical Writing and Research: Susan Schuppli
Online Platform and New Media: Jonathan Harris and Gregor Hochmuth for Network Effect
2017
Lifetime Achievement: Harry Benson
Art: Sophie Calle
Documentary and Photojournalism: Edmund Clark and Crofton Black, Negative Publicity
Artist's Book: Michael Christopher Brown, Libyan Sugar
Critical Writing and Research: Michael Famighetti and Sarah Lewis for "Vision & Justice," Aperture (no. 223, summer 2016)
Online Platform and New Media: For Freedoms
Emerging Photographer: Vasantha Yogananthan
The permanent collection at ICP contains more than 100,000 photographs. Since its opening in 1974, ICP has acquired important historical and contemporary images through an acquisitions committee and through donations and bequests from photographers and collectors. The collection spans the history of photography, including daguerrotypes, gelatin silver and digital chromogenic prints.
The collection is strongest in its holdings of American and European documentary photography of the 1930s to the 1990s. It comprises large bodies of work by W. Eugene Smith, Henri Cartier-Bresson, Robert Capa, the Farm Security Administration photographers, Alfred Eisenstaedt, Lisette Model, Gordon Parks, James VanDerZee, and Garry Winogrand. Recent purchases have included work by contemporary photographers such as Carrie Mae Weems, Justine Kurland, Katy Grannan, Vik Muniz, and Susan Meiselas.
Another component of the collection is a significant group of photographically illustrated magazines, particularly those published between World War I and II, such as Vu, Regards, Picture Post, Lilliput, Berliner Illustrirte Zeitung, Arbeiter-Illustrierte-Zeitung, and Life.
Opened in 2015, the International Center of Photography at Mana Contemporary is a 15,000-square-foot space that houses the permanent collection, a media lab, areas for research, and a gallery.
In 2003 the ICP joined with the publisher Steidl of Göttingen, Germany to launch the photography imprint ICP/Steidl.
"Strangers: The First ICP Triennial of Photography and Video." 2003.
Young America: The Daguerreotypes of Southworth and Hawes. 2005. Edited by Grant Romer and Brian Wallis. OCLC 60805129. Received New England Historical Society's Best Book of the Year and Kraszna-Krausz Book Award's Honorable Mention.
"Ecotopia: The Second ICP Triennial of Photography and Video." 2006
Atta Kim: On Air. 2006. By Atta Kim. Received the Deutsche Börse Prize: Best Photo Book of the Year.
Unknown Weegee. 2006. By Weegee. Received College Art Association Best Book Design, Honorable Mention.
Snap Judgments: New Positions in Contemporary African Photography. 2006. Edited by Okwui Enwezor. Received the PHotoEspaña: Best International Photography Book of the Year.
Susan Meiselas: In History. 2008. Received the Rencontres d’Arles 2009 Historical Book Award.
The Mexican Suitcase: The Rediscovered Spanish Civil War Negatives of Capa, Chim, and Taro. 2010. Received the AAM's Frances Smyth-Ravenel Prize for Excellence in Publication Design and the German Photobook 2011 Prize's Gold Award.
Reflections in a Glass Eye. ICP/Little, Brown, 1999. Edited by Ellen Handy.
"A Different Kind of Order: The ICP Triennial" New York: ICP/Delmonico Books Prestel, 2013.
Roman Vishniac Rediscovered. New York: ICP/Delmonico Books Prestel, 2015. Edited by Maya Benton.
The Decisive Moment (2007) by Henri Cartier-Bresson.
The Library of the International Center of Photography serves more than 6,000 visitors a year. The information and bibliographic resources it provides are used by ICP staff, patrons, and researchers. As of 2008, the Library receives 75 periodicals and serials, and its collection of approximately 20,000 volumes and 2,000 files is available for on-site perusal.
Library materials are searchable on ICP's online catalog.
In 2000, George Eastman House (GEH) and ICP launched the GEH–ICP Alliance, whose fundamental aim is to enhance public understanding and appreciation of photography, through exhibitions, publications, research, scholarship, collection sharing, and the joint website Photomuse.org.
In this collaboration, the staffs of the International Center of Photography and George Eastman House share resources, pool their expertise, and dovetail their collections for a series of exhibitions called "New Histories of Photography".
